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Painting panels with Ria Vandervis

1 September 2023

Monarch makes paint projects easy – all you need are premium tools to get the job done right the first time.

We recently collaborated with DIY extraordinaire Ria Vandervis, who showed us how she managed to cover a large exposed fan pipe using Monarch products.

After making some modifications to her kitchen, Ria shifted the location of her extractor fan. Consequently, this meant that she had a large external pipe on display. To conceal the pipe, Ria used a number of Monarch’s quality paint accessories and followed these simple steps:

  1. To fill in the space above the cabinets, Ria cut an MDF panel to size. If you’re doing this yourself, it is crucial that you get your measurements spot on so that the panel will fit perfectly.

  2. Ria painted the MDF panel using Monarch’s Comfort Grip roller frame and a Doors & Cupboards roller cover. This is the perfect size roller cover for painting smaller surface areas. The shorter nap also means that it will deliver an ultra-smooth finish.


One of Ria’s favourite painting hacks is to cut a Heavy Duty plastic drop sheet and use it to line the inside of her paint tray, making cleaning up a breeze!

  1. After painting the MDF board, Ria secured the panel in place using small L brackets.

  2. For consistency, Ria did a quick coat of paint on the rest of the kitchen. This not only freshened the room up beautifully but ensured that the new panel didn’t look out of place.

  3. Finally, Ria used Monarch Mini Gap Filler in White to fill in the gaps around the new panel above the cupboards.

For advice on how to select the perfect paint accessory for your next project, take a look at our Painting Tool Kit and discover a bunch of painting tips, tricks and inspiration by following us on Instagram and Facebook.